Monthly Gas Bill
Monthly Gas Bill
Why do you bill monthly for gas?
In the past, we used to bill monthly monthly for electricity, but every two months for gas. This made budgeting difficult for customers, especially those who have both electricity and gas on one account.
For example, if you use $100 of electricity every month and $100 of gas every month, you received a bill like this:
| Month | Cost | Usage |
|---|---|---|
| January | $100 | One month electricity |
| February | $300 | One month electricity plus two months gas |
| March | $100 | One month electricity |
| April | $300 | One month electricity plus two months gas |
To help smooth out the billing for the months when we don’t receive an actual gas meter read from your local distributor, we will use an estimate instead. This means you will receive a bill that looks more like this:
| Month | Cost | Usage |
|---|---|---|
| January | $200 | One month electricity plus one month gas |
| February | $200 | One month electricity plus one month gas |
| March | $200 | One month electricity plus one month gas |
| April | $200 | One month electricity plus one month gas |
As you can see the total cost is the same but means you will now receive, easier to manage bills.
Why do you have to use an estimate for monthly gas billing?
Your local distributor reads your gas meter and provides us with the meter data every two months. In order to smooth things out we will estimate your gas read, and make the necessary adjustments the following month, so that you only pay for the energy you’ve used.
How do you calculate an estimate?
The estimate of your usage is based on your property’s previous usage pattern. The estimate will always balance out the following month when the actual meter read is taken by your local distributor and we’ve made the necessary adjustments. In the end you will only pay for the energy you’ve used.
A gas estimate read is calculated using an algorithm approved by the AEMO (Australian Energy Market Operator). The formula uses the average amount of gas consumed at your meter on a typical day, and is adjusted based on your homes “temperature sensitivity factor”. For example, on a cold day, if your home usually uses 10% more gas than it does on an average day, this is factored into the estimate taking into account the actual daily temperature for the billing period. This is the most accurate and reliable way to work out an estimate.
What if an estimate is wrong?
We take care to estimate as accurately as possible, but estimates can vary. However your bill will always even out when the next actual meter read is done. Any incorrect estimate would either be a bit lower or higher that it should be, but once the next actual read is done, we immediately adjust your account with the actual read to ensure that you only pay for the energy you’ve used.
Example; imagine the last three monthly reads on your meter were 8200, 8300, 8400. That means you used 100 units every month for three months. Let’s imagine you pay $1 per unit. You should be billed for $100 each month. This equals $300 for all three months together. However; imagine your second month’s read was overestimated incorrectly, and we used an estimate read of 8350. You would have been billed like this: 100 units in month one, 150 units in month two, but only 50 units in month three. This still equals $300 for all three months together.
Can an estimate read cause bill shock?
Actual reads are always best, read how you can avoid bill shock and get the most accurate bills here.
Can I provide my own meter read?
Yes, if you prefer to provide your own meter read, just snap a photo of the meter, and upload it via the “My Account” Portal. This is the fastest and easiest way to provide a “self-read”. We will happily use your read to create your bill. Learn more here. Please make sure to clearly capture both the meter read and the meter number.
Alternatively, you can email it to cs@globirdenergy.com.au please also mention your GloBird account number in your email to us. Please note email takes longer to process.
I don’t want the convenience of smoother monthly gas bills, can you bill me every two months instead?
Most of our best value gas plans come with monthly billing, however we may have another gas plan with different rates that consist of two monthly bills. Call us on 13 3456 to discuss.